Helpful Online Resources (in no particular order)

ITRS is an annual meeting where individuals and research groups present their observational, empirical, and experimental research related to technical rescue. The annual proceedings are the most recent research regarding rope rescue and should be browsed through annually at a minimum by those who are professional rescuers.Frequently the research generated is also of interest to sport users, so recreational rope users may find many of the studies of significant value. Fortunately ITRS archives abstracts, papers, presentations, and some data presented by some authors, so the archives are a goldmine of useful articles, data, and citations. The ‘papers’ page is searchable by author, year, and content to make surfing the archives more convenient. Find it online here:http://itrsonline.org/papers/

The Nylon Highway is a periodical printed by the National Speleological Society (NSS) devoted to the development of SRT skills as well as rescue skills. For both the professional and recreational rope user, these archives are invaluable in learning up to date methods, as well as explain why other techniques were abandoned. If you ever wanted to understand how some of the gear you use was developed, read the Nylon Highway. My advice to most users is to read as many issues of the Nylon Highway as you can. It covers the development of equipment, personal SRT systems, rescue topics,and accident reports. It will help you learn how to think about problems and respect those that developed equipment and techniques in the past. Find it online here: www.caves.org/section/vertical/nylhi.html

If you are interested in cave rescue, download or buy this book. This is a well written, well-illustrated guide to cave rescue techniques in Italy. This is the English translation of the next book on this list, and is a welcome inclusion to the rigging guides for cave rescue. The rigging philosophy presented in this book is markedly different than that used in the United States, so readers in the US should be aware they are working from a different set of assumptions. As such, this is a really good book to read to get a different perspective on cave rigging. The techniques employed are all based on one system (with some variations), and that system relies heavily on bolting. Generally the techniques are gear intensive, and often put high forces on the anchors. This can partially be explained because the book is written to train people in callout cave rescue, rather than smaller party rescue techniques. There is also a reliance on ascenders in the system for progress capture rather than soft interfaces (e.g., prusiks). As such, the techniques described here do require a higher basal rope proficiency than techniques taught in the US. With all that said, it is a great book that cave rescuers should certainly own.https://formazione.cnsas.it/download/handbook/caving-rescue/

This is an exceptionally short book designed to show new French cavers the basics of vertical caving. It does not have extensive text or step by step instructions, rather it is a list of skills people can use to remember what they have learned. Given that the French have a caving school, this is really meant as a reminder to students what they learned in their classes. As such, I think it is a great addition to a cavers library, but is not that important when it comes to "must have" books for new cavers because it lacks the training component that can be found in other texts. http://www.efs.ffspeleo.fr/index.php/component/phocadownload/category/1-cahiers-efs#

If you are interested in cave rescue, download this book. This is a well written, well-illustrated guide to cave rescue techniques in Italy. It is now available in English. The rigging philosophy presented in this book is markedly different than that used in the United States, so readers in the US should be aware they are working from a different set of assumptions. As such, this is a really good book to read to get a different perspective on cave rigging. The techniques employed are all based on one system (with some variations), and that system relies heavily on bolting. Generally the techniques are gear intensive, and often put high forces on the anchors. There is also a reliance on ascenders in the system for progress capture rather than soft interfaces (e.g., prusiks). As such, the techniques described here do require a higher basal rope proficiency than techniques taught in the US. With all that said, it is a great book that cave rescuers should certainly own. http://formazione.cnsas.it/download/handbook/caving-rescue/

Merchant, D. F., 2002/2003, Life on a Line: A manual of modern cave rescue ropework techniques

This book is the Australian equivalent to On Rope and Alpine Caving Techniques. It is practical, well written, and covers a different rigging philosophy to that in On Rope. While it is written for cavers, it is accessible and covers equipment more commonly found in other portions of the world, and as such, it is a useful addition to a riggers library.http://cavediggers.com/vertical/